Desiree Ellis lauds trump card Hildah Magaia

 

The Swedish-based striker had only started the opening game of the competition – a 2-1 victory over defending champions Nigeria – and missed the rest of the group matches and the quarterfinal against Tunisia due to injury. 

She returned as a second-half substitute against Zambia and then returned to the starting line-up for the final, and delivered as Banyana beat the Atlas Lionesses 2-1 at the Prince Moulay Abdellah Stadium.

"You know, in the morning I was looking at something and it said, in the two previous finals that we lost when Nigeria was not there [2008 and 2012], it was finals against the hosts [Equatorial Guinea] and I said this will be third time lucky," said Ellis after the match.

"The players were so determined and focussed, no matter what was thrown at them this past week, no matter the adversity that came; we stuck to the game-plan, we said we'd go three up front to disturb them, especially with their overlapping full-backs.

"We knew Hilda was fresh and hadn't played for a while and she came back a day before the semi-final, and we knew she would be our trump card today. But we stuck to our game-plan and I think the players worked tirelessly and we were in control of the match."

By Mazola Molefe